Use of binaural and monaural cues to identify the lateral position of a virtual object using echoes.

Under certain conditions, sighted and blind humans can use echoes to discern characteristics of otherwise silent objects. Previous research concluded that robust horizontal-plane object localisation ability, without using head movement, depends on information above 2 kHz. While a strong interaural level difference (ILD) cue is available, it was not clear if listeners were using that or the monaural level cue that necessarily accompanies ILD. In this experiment, 13 sighted and normal-hearing listeners were asked to identify the right-vs.-left position of an object in virtual auditory space. Sounds were manipulated to remove binaural cues (binaural vs. diotic presentation) and prevent the use of monaural level cues (using level roving). With low- (<2 kHz) and high- (>2 kHz) frequency bands of noise, performance with binaural presentation and level rove exceeded that expected from use of monaural level cues and that with diotic presentation. It is argued that a high-frequency binaural cue (most likely ILD), and not a monaural level cue, is crucial for robust object localisation without head movement.